Autumn half-term looks set to be a lively one, with activities from museum discos to fossil hunting – and even shows promising ‘monster truck car-crushing’.
With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, expect ghoulish goings-on around Britain. Here we round up the best things to do across the UK…
London and the South East
Brave our spookiest park
Oct 31, Holland Park, London
Meet a giant talking frog and mysterious bubble-making professor, dodge fire jugglers and follow woodland trails for hidden sweets in Holland Park’s free but ticketed Halloween Evening (4.30pm to 7.30pm). It follows the day’s gothic flea market.
Details: highstreetkensington.co.uk/halloween
The Tower by night
Oct 22-31, The Tower of London
Families can follow a torchlit trail across to the Bloody Tower and the execution site on Tower Green, while costumed characters tell gruesome historical tales. Plus, see the Crown Jewels without daytime crowds. 5.30pm to 9pm; adults £34.80, children £17.40 (you need to book).
Details: hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london
The Tower of London is set to put on a ghoulish display this Halloween
Dancing in the square
Oct 25, 1-7pm, Trafalgar Square, London
With 200 Bollywood dancers, puppet shows, live music, martial arts demonstrations and street-food, the traditional Indian Diwali celebration takes over the square.
Details: london.gov.uk/events/diwali-square-2026
Dancers in vibrant costumes will flood Trafalgar Square this Diwali.Scenes from the festivities in 2023
Free story time
Oct 25-26, 10am-6pm, Imperial War Museum, London
The museum’s free family festival features wartime stories, famous children’s author talks, guided tours plus drawing and music workshops.
Details: iwm.org.uk/events/big-story-festival
Creep with crawlies
Oct 27-29, 11am-3pm, Hyde Park, London
The Discovery Centre’s enclosed grounds host free creepy-crawly Halloween discoveries for kids in a witches’ den, with bat detectors, rodent skeletons, nature trails and nocturnal animal skulls.
Details: royalparks.org.uk
Try a ghostly castle
Oct 24 to Nov 1, 10am-4pm,
Dover Castle, Kent
Conquer the clifftop fortress with spooky storytelling by Georgian soldiers, themed underground adventures, ghost trails round ramparts and, of course, plenty of pumpkins. Prizes for best visitors’ costumes, too. Free with normal entry (£14.50-£29).
Details: english-heritage.org.uk/dover
Dover Castle will put on a spooktacular show this Halloween with prizes for best visitors’ costumes, too
Wild stag nights
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Richmond Park, London
The park is home to 600 wild deer and this is peak time for noisy stags, which mark breeding season by roaring across glades and clashing antlers.
Details: royalparks.org.uk
The sprawling London park is home to 600 wild-roaming red and fallow deer
South and South West
Pick monster pumpkins
Oct 17 and 18, 10-5pm,
Royal Victoria Country Park, Southampton
Monster-sized pumpkins are the stars among a scarecrow village, chainsaw woodcarving, live music, dog show, falconry and bouncy castles. Entry £5-£9.80.
Details: pumpkinsinthepark.co.uk
Fantastic fossils
Oct 24 to Nov 1,
Lyme Regis Museum, Dorset
Fossil experts lead daily beach expeditions after heavy autumn tides reveal fresh prehistoric treasures from crumbling cliffs. Families learn to crack open stones to find ammonites to take home. Adults £18.95, children (6+) £12.75.
Details: lymeregismuseum.co.uk
Tree-top trail
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Westonbirt National Arboretum, Gloucestershire
Explore the collection of 2,500 tree species during the peak autumn colours. Highlights include an elevated tree-top walkway, family and dog-friendly trails, rangers’ storytelling sessions and craft workshops. Adults £16, children (5-17) £4.
Details: forestryengland.uk/westonbirt
The Westonbirt National Arboretum is home to 2,500 tree species which offer a kaleidoscope of autumn colours
Full steam ahead
Oct 24 to Nov 1, West Somerset Railway (Minehead to Taunton)
Ride historic steam trains through 20 miles of autumn woods and coast with special visiting vintage engines, twilight rides and hop-on, hop-off tickets between ten stations. Adults £32, children £16.
Details: west-somerset- railway.co.uk
A steam train passes Kentsford on the West Somerset Railway as part of the Autumn Steam Gala event
Starlight safari
Oct 24, 5.30-7.30pm, Otter Estuary, Devon
Wildlife experts lead a free after-dark estuary expedition spotting flocks of migrating birds under the stars. Kids can hunt for bats and owls with sonic detectors.
Details: eventbrite.co.uk
Art attack
Oct 27-30, The Box, Plymouth
Join a free huge city-planning art project, decorating giant fabric strips to redesign the city’s skyline, build architectural models and experiment in Lego design zones.
Details: theboxplymouth.com
Night at the museum
Oct 31, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Dance among galleries of stuffed animals, mummies and exotic ancient artefacts at the Night At The Museum themed fancy-dress silent disco. Entry £12.50.
Details: eventbrite.co.uk
Tiny illuminations
Oct 24 to Nov 1, dusk till 7.30pm, Babbacombe Model Village, Devon
The tiny 1:12 scale world gets lit up for half-term with thousands of miniature house windows, streetlights and neon signs. There’s a special spooky family walk too. Adults £16.50, children (3-17) £13.50.
Details: model-village.co.uk
The tiny 1:12 scale world in Devon will be lit up in the evening for the autumn half-term event
Midlands and East Anglia
Thrills and chills
Oct 16 to Nov 1, Alton Towers, Staffordshire
Ride rollercoasters in the dark at Alton Towers’ Halloween makeover, which includes four live-actor scare mazes. From £37.
Details: altontowers.com
Alton Towers will undergo a Halloween makeover this half-term, which includes live-actor scare mazes
Gorgeous gorge
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Matlock Bath, Derbyshire
Elaborate models float down the River Derwent’s picturesque Peak District for this half-term festival. Highlights include stilt-walkers, circus performers and fireworks shot from towering cliffs. Best views are from cable cars over the valley. The festival runs on weekends and Friday, October 30. The grand finale is on November 1. From £5.50.
Details: visitpeak district.com
Days of thunder
Oct 31, 10-5pm, Santa Pod Raceway, Bedfordshire
Swap gentle autumn woods for a day of ear-splitting dragster action with jet-powered cars, monster truck car-crushing and motorbike stunt teams. Adults £25, children (5-15) £5.
Details: santapod.co.uk
Seals in the wild
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Horsey Gap, Norfolk
Half-term coincides with one of the UK’s best wildlife spectacles: grey seal pupping season. Hundreds take over the sand flats to give birth to white-furred pups. Families can watch for free from viewing platforms.
Details: friendsofhorseyseals.co.uk
Half-term coincides with grey seal pupping season. Seals give birth to pups on the Norfolk beaches each year which can be watched for free from viewing platforms
Spooky symphony
Oct 25, 3-4pm, Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Designed to introduce families to classical concerts, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performs movie themes, such as Ghostbusters and Jaws, and spooky classical hits. Includes free instrument workshops beforehand. Entry £12.
Details: bmusic.co.uk
Wales
Castle’s creepy quest
Oct 24 to Nov 1, 10am-4pm, Castell Coch, Cardiff
Wales’s best 19th-century fairytale castle fills with clues for kids to crack an intricate folklore puzzle to claim a prize. The final weekend has face-painting and craft labs. Adults £9.50, children £6.60.
Details: cadw.gov.wales
South Wales’s 19th-century castle will transform into a Halloween and folklore themed ‘creepy quest’ where children can hunt for clues to win a prize
Going underground
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Rhondda Heritage Park
Underground tours through former colliery shafts feature costumed actors and historic mining stories. Overground activities include pumpkin carving, a vintage funfair and food stalls. Entry £11.50 (booking required).
Details: rctcbc.gov.wales
Feed the birds
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Gigrin Farm, Rhayader, Powys
At 3pm daily, see hundreds of red kites swoop for food (plus plenty of intruding buzzards and crows) from weather-proof hides. There’s a 1.5-mile nature trail and farm museum, too. Adults £9.50, children (5-15) £5.
Details: gigrin.co.uk
A red kite swoops over Gigrin Farm near Rhayader in Wales
Wonderful waterfalls
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Ystradfellte, Brecon Beacons
Water flow hits its peak during half-term, making this free five-mile woodland hike through dramatic gorges a seasonal highlight. Paths pass along wet rock ledges behind the water curtain of the massive Sgwd yr Eira falls.
The Sgwd yr Eira waterfall, part of the Four Waterfalls walk near Ystradfellte, Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales
Details: beezra.co.uk
North West and East
Let there be light
Oct 21-31, dusk till 10pm, Blackpool, Lancashire
Our most famous seafront always has its renowned Illuminations, but for the Lightpool Festival there is also a free trail of 30 light artworks, on top of the illuminated trams and special extra-scary rides in the Pleasure Beach amusements. Free.
Details: visitlancashire.com
The ‘Lightpool’ Festival in Blackpool offers a free trail of 30 light artworks, alongside other Halloween activities
Murmuration marvels
Oct 24 to Nov 1, Solway Coast, Cumbria/Scottish border
In the skies over tidal saltmarshes up to 50,000 starlings gather at twilight to form huge twisting clouds that soar and dive in unison. Best viewpoints are footpaths near Gretna or RSPB Mersehead.
Details: rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/mersehead
Starlings gather en masse above marshes north of Carlisle, near the Scottish border
At Dracula’s abbey
Oct 23-31, 6-9pm, Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire
Clifftop Gothic ruins flooded with multi-coloured light are the perfect spot for live theatre performances of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Adults £17.50, kids £10.50.
Details: english-heritage.org.uk/whitby-abbey
The Gothic ruins of Whitby Abbey will provide an excellent Halloween activity this coming half-term
Meet the monsters
Oct 25-31, Manchester city centre
Inflatable monsters crawl over roofs and hang off landmarks in a free Halloween art festival. Plus, a street parade of monster puppets on October 24 and 25.
Details: visitmanchester.com
Ghosts and games
Oct 28, 30 and 31, Beamish Museum, County Durham
The open-air museum becomes an eerie ‘unliving’ landscape, with ghouls, fire shows and live music. Its streets are haunted by ghost actors, while indoors there are family-friendly games and retro horror movies. Vintage double-decker buses and fairground rides run in the dark. 5-9.30pm (book online).
Details: beamish.org.uk
Canoe in the dark
Oct 24-31, across the Lake District and Cumbria
A month-long celebration of dark skies launches over half-term with guided night-time forest walks or stargazing swims on Ullswater. Plus, dark-sky canoeing on Coniston Water. Book ahead online.
Details: visitlakedistrict.com
Scotland
Zombie Zoo
Oct 16 to Nov 1, Glasgow Botanic Gardens
The gardens transform into a fictional zombie containment facility with decontamination tunnels, observation labs, street food and marshmallow-toasting zones. Adults £26, children £14.
Details: itison.com/glasglow.
Glasgow Botanic Gardens’ Zombie Zoo will light up for Halloween as it transforms into a fictional zombie containment facility
Puppet parade
Oct 23 and 24, 7pm, Paisley, Renfrewshire
Halloween takes over the town centre with funfairs, eerie light projections, street food and 400-strong nightly parades of drummers and puppets.
Details: renfrewshire.gov.uk
Spider street party
Oct 16-31, Galoshans Festival, Inverclyde
Parades of puppets and fire-breathers at the Greenock Waterfront on October 28 (5.45-8pm) are the culmination of two weeks of theatre, music and dance. But beware giant mechanical spiders roaming the area.
Details: galoshansfestival.co.uk
Celtic fire festival
Oct 31, Samhuinn Fire Festival, Calton Hill, Edinburgh
A spectacular celebration of ancient Celtic traditions with revellers joining acrobats and drummers around bonfires as the weary King of Summer clashes with the icy winter goddess Cailleach. Adults £15, children £13.
Details: beltane.org/about-samhuinn
A performer at the Samhuinn Fire Festival in Edinburgh
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